-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Condolences continued to pour in late Sunday night following the death of heavy metal rocker Ronnie James Dio , who lost his battle with stomach cancer earlier in the day .

`` Today my heart is broken , Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. 16th May , '' his wife , Wendy Dio , said in a message on his official website .

Dio , 67 , followed Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath 's lead vocalist in 1979 .

`` Many , many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away , '' she wrote . `` Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all . ''

The rock community paid tribute to Dio in messages late Sunday .

`` In addition to his powerhouse vocal ability , Ronnie was a true gentleman who always emanated great warmth and friendship to us and everyone around him , '' KISS said . `` We will miss him . ''

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian called Dio 's death a big loss .

`` So many memories of Ronnie . Toured together many times . He always had a kind word and a smile , and he loved the Yankees , '' Ian said .

Musician Slash summed up the loss in one sentence : `` Ronnie died at 7:45 a.m. , but his music will live for eternity . ''

Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx , who became friends with Dio while touring Europe , said the rocker will be missed .

`` I still have this image of him standing on stage in front of 100,000 belting out ` Man on the Silver Mountain ' and remember the shivers it sent up my spine , '' Sixx said .

He called Dio `` one of the kindest souls I have ever met and his talent was beyond inspirational to so many of us . ''

`` Those of us that had the opportunity to know Ronnie can tell you what a wonderful and passionate man he was , '' Sixx said .

Dio most recently was touring with Heaven and Hell , a version of Black Sabbath renamed for legal reasons . All shows were canceled last March because of his illness .

His last public appearance was in April at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards when he accepted a vocalist of the year award for his work on last year 's Heaven and Hell album . Dio appeared frail , but he spoke while accepting his award .

Born Ronald James Padavona in 1942 , Dio 's professional music career began as a high school student in the late 1950s .

His 1960s rock group The Electric Elves evolved into Elf by the early 1970s , when the group played heavy blues rock .

Dio 's rock became darker with his band Rainbow , which he left in 1979 to join Black Sabbath .

Black Sabbath released three albums with Dio , including `` Heaven and Hell '' in 1980 , `` Mob Rules '' in 1981 and `` Live Evil '' in 1982 .

Dio left that band in 1982 , but he had a brief reunion with the group a decade later .

He formed the group Dio in 1982 and later Heaven and Hell .

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Rock community paid tribute to Dio in messages late Sunday

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Dio most recently was touring with the band Heaven and Hell

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His last public appearance was in April at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards